"For the Allies as well as the Germans, it will be the longest day..."

Rating: 8/10 (31 March 2012)

Watching and analyzing the film today is surely a study in contrasts given the half century since the film was made. A ten million dollar budget back in the early Sixties was certainly a considerable sum, but even accounting for inflation, doesn't hold a candle to seventy million for "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) or the hundred twenty five million dollars spent to produce "Band of Brothers" (2001). Then there's the decision to film the picture in black and white, kind of surprising to me as I'd never seen it before until today. Not knowing the history of the picture, I don't know what went into that decision, but I thought about it throughout.
With an all star cast led by John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, and Henry Fonds (all on the CD cover), it's surprising to note that each of them had relatively little screen time given the scope of the movie. And it is a rather large scope when you come down to it, alternating it's scenes with Allied planning for the invasion, German preoccupation with downplaying the Allied resolve, and the parts played by American, British and French forces on that fateful day. One is regularly struck by the incredible confluence of planning, timing, good fortune and sheer luck that played a part in the events of Operation Overlord. Interestingly, that term was never used in the story unless it got by me somehow.
Another treat for videophiles is the inclusion of so many cameo appearances by celebrity headliners of the day, and not all of them actors as it were. I managed to pick out Paul Anka easily enough, but reading the names of others in the cast like Tommy Sands, Fabian, Sal Mineo and George Segal caught me completely by surprise. I suppose I could go back and hunt them down but the three hour run time prohibits that, though my initial viewing didn't really seem that it took that long.
For sheer size and epic sweep of the film, "The Longest Day" is certainly a must for anyone interested in World War II and the events of D-Day. As best as can be compressed into a feature film, the picture does an admirable job of relating the horrors of war and the stake Allied forces had in executing a successful operation with America's entry into the War effort. Technically there are better made war films like the ones mentioned earlier, though not many offer the sheer scope of the numbers involved in planning this greatest military maneuver in history. For those directly involved with D-Day at the time, it surely must have felt as a German General remarked in the picture - "We are living an historical moment".